Tag Archives: inspiration

Health, Writing

Celebrations!

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Photo by Zoran Nikolic from FreeImages

I am happy to announce that great progress has been made in the last year. I have earned my Master’s Degree in English and Creative Writing, my grandchildren have been reunited with their parents, I finally had hip surgery, and I made it through the year teaching despite COVID. It has been a wild ride, but things are looking up. I see the glimmers of feeling better and stronger on the horizon. I am certainly more confident about my passion for writing and my commitment to making a career for myself in the literary field. 

Here’s to constant improvement, even if it looks like barely any progress is being made. It is okay to tiptoe out of comfort zones, take teeny tiny baby steps toward goals, and spend tons of time researching options before picking the next right thing. This journey is not a race.

Health, Writing

Home for Health

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(Illustration: Sarah Grillo/Axiosa)

My grandchildren and I have settled into a nice routine over the last few weeks.  We get up early to eat and play, do homeschool and play some more.  The weather has been either rainy or cool for the most part, so outside time can occur whenever they like.  They play on the porch when it rains.  The only weather we cannot tolerate is hot.  Living in Texas ensures that the outdoors are inaccessible at least 3 months out of the year.

I have begun my master’s degree in Creative Writing and am enjoying the topics of discussion thus far.  We are studying the way new words get added to our vocabulary.  Some I think are of note are Rona for Coronavirus, skurt for go, and beat for applying makeup.  I find the evolution of language fascinating.  I am always interested in how words come about and why certain ones stick. I’m sure these are familiar to some, but I had never heard them until this year.

Teaching my actual students from home has gone great so far.  I have only been asked to send little amounts of work on paper up until now.  Beginning next week, I will teach some Zoom lessons…at least we are going to experiment with it!  We shall see how it goes.

Another exciting leap I took was joining an online meditation/writing group.  I love it!  After meditating and relaxing, my writing flows so much better and I am getting back to my craft.  I recommend writing and sharing with others once in a while.  It is very motivating!

Essays, Writing

1st Day of Pre-K

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My granddaughter Charlotte started school today.  I got up extra early to do her hair and help in any way I could to get the family out the door on time.  I believe all went according to plan so Charlotte and her entourage began their trek on time.  Three adults and her baby brother accompanied her on this momentous morning.  I’m so glad everyone made a big deal about the beginning of this educational journey that she has begun.

As a teacher and a lifelong learner, the first day of school for any kid is cause for celebration.  What is more exciting than diving into a world of unlimited intellectual expansion?  Becoming a part of a cohort of learners with whom you will share the experience?  Entrusting your development to a human being who will forever be remembered as larger than life?

Monday will be my 42nd first day of school.  I look forward to this next batch of youngsters that I will have the opportunity to learn from.  Every year feels full of potential, full of hope, and most certainly full of anticipation.  I know some of my students may not have the same joyous energy of expectation for the first day of school as me.  That’s ok.  Exuberance is contagious.  I’ll share mine.

I’m so glad my daughter and other family members circled around my granddaughter and walked as a village to her school.  She has a long, fabulous, winding educational road ahead of her.  As one of her great-grandfather’s said, “Today Pre-K, before you know it, college!”

 

Essays, Writing

Musical Bribery

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Music is a fantastic way to bribe (ahem) encourage high school students to behave in the classroom.  Nobody is allergic, it won’t send anyone into a diabetic coma, and it is free if you have YouTube!  I let each student pick a song to add to our ever-expanding playlist.  It can be any genre as long as the lyrics are appropriate for a classroom.  I am fairly conservative with my judgment because I don’t want my principal walking in to “I Wanna Sex You Up” type lyrics.  Also, my classroom is in a psychiatric treatment center and we have to be aware of patients’ triggers.  If the song is screamy or super energizing, we might save it for an exercise break, clean up time, or as part of a game.  I don’t play Lamb of God’s Set to Fail when we are in the middle of a test.  Common sense needed.      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uc-C3Iove3I

As long as students are working, giving best effort, and meeting expectations, we play our class playlist.  If not, the music gets turned off.  I love it when I hear kids policing each other.  “Stop talking to me or she’ll turn off the music.”  “Do your work or she’s going to turn off the music.”  It brings joy to my heart.  Another one I’ve heard is “Be nice to her, she lets us listen to music.”  I wonder if music has helped keep me from getting punched in the face all these years…

One of the coolest effects of music chosen by students is all the new songs I have been exposed to because of their varied tastes.  I never would have found some of these songs or artists on my own.   These may not be the clean versions, so if you are a teacher, be sure to listen to them for yourself before playing them for your particular group of kids.  Students introduced me to the following:                 Weak by Wet.                                                       https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8L2tfNrKsYI                                Steve Lacy’s      C U Girl                                        https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5KJIUXbfARk                               This Too Shall Pass by Ok Go                       https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=juX7VJIMsqc                               High Tops by Del Water Gap                                                 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ksrb33z3boo                                         Alec Benjamin’s My Mother’s Eyes  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Q_15W7eBH8                                   Color Blind by Diplo (featuring Lil Xan) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ResGBWo10GQ                                  Juice WRLD’s Lucid Dreams                          https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_fh64GbFSw4                                      Long Black Train by Josh Turner                https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SZtwxc423jg                                          Falling Down by Lil Peep and XXXTentacion    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p0jIW_pgGzE

Those are just a few from the last semester that I thought were worth sharing.  Since I mostly listen to easy listening/70’s/80’s/Pop music, it introduces me to some of the new stuff kids like (or old stuff I’ve never been exposed to.)  And I get to share some of the songs I like with them.  Many have never heard songs I choose by Prince, Bob Dylan, The Who, The Beatles, Blondie, Creedance Clearwater Revival, Duran Duran, The Cure, U2, etc.  They are intrigued, though, often write down the name of the song and band and want to look it up when they get home.  It fosters a back and forth that is purely enjoyment based.

I may tweak my system a little this year, but will definitely still be using music in my classroom to foster interest, good behavior, and a little bit of buy in to our classroom.  It’s like saying, “I get you.  Your taste in music is noted and appreciated.  Let’s share it with everyone.”

(The picture above is Lil Xan, a current musician? some of the kids like.   All music was once radical to somebody.)

Fiction, Writing

Descent Book Review

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I read the novel Descent on a whim at the recommendation of a coworker and a student in one of my summer classes.  It was a page-turner to rival the likes of James Patterson.  What I wasn’t expecting was the surprisingly intricate prose.  I was reminded of F. Scott Fitzgerald.

The subject matter was dark, but written gorgeously. While on vacation in the mountains, a teenage girl goes on a run with her younger brother following on a bike for protection.  Disastrously, the brother is injured and the girl is kidnapped.  This is not too much of a spoiler since it occurs in the first few pages of the novel.  The rest of the book is varying accounts told from the perspectives of each family member (and others) spanning several years of searching for the girl, dealing with life without her, and hoping she’s still alive.

The characters are well-developed and each of their motivations, fears, and doubts is picked apart like clues at a crime scene.  Several themes that stood out for me were the ways in which we cope with tragedy, the power of survival instinct, and the lengths we go to for those we love.

Some of the scenes were too intense, gruesome, and mature for children.  One brutal rape scene in particular is much too graphic to be allowed in my psych facility school library.    But that intensity is part of what made the book hard to put down.

This DESCENT into depravity is paired with breathtaking views of snow-capped mountains, deep ravines, and forests.  Whether by escape, rescue, or death, the reader needs resolution of some kind, any kind, which makes the book impossible to put down.

 

Essays, Writing

Convocation

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Some coworkers and I have traveled to San Antonio to stay the night in a hotel.  Tomorrow is our convocation – that is a fancy name for first day back to work for teachers.  We will all come together in a conference room or hotel ballroom of some sort and listen to speakers motivate us, tell us how wonderful we are for choosing our profession, how special our kids are, and how unique our school district is because of our mission.

I happen to love these sappy moments of reveling in the greatness that is a room full of teachers gearing up for a new school year.  It feels like a locker room pre-game.  Everyone is excited and talkative, getting pumped up for a win.  The band is warming up, the cheerleaders are doing a dance routine, the crowd is buying snacks and settling into their seats…

Do they still pray before sports games?  They did when I was in school in the south and I always loved the moment an entire crowd grew silent, listening to someone’s plea for safety and sportsmanship, hoping GOD would take the time to drop by for the game.

That is how these things feel to me…almost holy.  Some teachers have confided in me that they hate these events, find them silly, wish money were spent more wisely, feel demeaned by team-building.  I guess I am fodder for the peddling preacher that is a school superintendent.  I want to believe that what we do is holy.  I want to believe that GOD is in my classroom filling the space between outbursts and anger, fear and refusal.  That the kids whose lives will touch mine will be bathed in grace and sent back out into the world nourished…or at least comforted.

I hope every teacher out there preparing for our next batch of kids gets the chance to feel encouraged, valued, and inspired at their convocation.  It is a uniquely teacher-y thing that I for one am glad exists.

 

Fiction, Writing

My First Book Sale

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This morning I had tea with my mother Cyndee and sister Robyn.  My mother made breakfast to order – a lovely omelet for me and a waffle for my sister.  We had a nice visit and I showed off my new book that arrived in the mail.  It feels good to hold the physical manifestation of so much hard work in my hands.

And that is where I sold my first ever novel…to my mom.  🙂

I am not proud of every part of the story I wrote.  I am not pleased with every piece of dialogue.  There are plot holes.  I couldn’t decide on the ending.  A few of my characters are not well-developed.  I could have gone so much deeper with the idea behind the title.  The list could go on.

I am very proud of finishing.  I am proud of editing, formatting, setting up an account with Amazon kindle, and a bank account to deposit all of my cents into.  I am proud of all the hours I put in, all the energy, creativity, emotion, and focus it took to make it happen.  And I am beyond proud to have met a goal I set for myself many years ago of publishing.

Today was a good day.  And I really don’t care if I ever sell another one of these books.  I am a published author.  I write books.

Fiction, Writing

Writer’s Group at Cuppa Austin

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I am experiencing my first Writer’s Group that Lori invited me to. at Cuppa Austin on Parmer close to Mopac. It is a nice little coffee shop. I got a breakfast taco, hot tea, and iced tea. They have a selection of loose teas to choose from and the baristas were cheerful. My kind of place.

We have a row of tables and 7 people have shown up so far. This is already more successful than any Writer’s Groups I’ve ever hosted. No one talks. They just work. It seems like a productive group. I have gotten four chapters edited. I am now halfway finished editing my BlackIce novel. Making progress!

And yesterday, my best friend Erica helped me get my website “landing” page set up so when people go to marshallpress.net they will see something (instead of a fake page.)

Essays, Writing

I Started a Publishing Business!

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Marshall Press

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Today was exhausting!  I am about to fall in bed, but must share the victories of my day.

  • Set up my address for Marshall Press at the post office.
  • Got my dba (doing business as) paperwork filed with the county for Marshall Press (which is good for the next 10 years.)
  • Opened a bank account for Marshall Press with a company VISA and everything!
  • Set up my account with my new banking information for publishing with Kindle Create / Amazon Kindle Direct Publishing.
  • Purchased marshallpress.net domain name for the next 10 years from NameCheap.
  • Created an account on Bluehost for my marshallpress website to be hosted for the next year.
  • Created an account with FreeImages to be able to use lovely images on my sites.

There is still more to do, but that is all for one day.  I am going to relax in my comfy quarters for the last night of my retreat and enjoy one more glorious morning of tea and writing when I awake.

Health, Writing

Writer’s Retreat

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I rented a cabin on a river to do a 4-day Writer’s Retreat. I am on day 2 and have finally gotten into an actual honest-to-goodness project that resembles both productivity and creativity.

I took a break and looked back at some old posts on this blog. I found one from 4 years ago dreaming of doing a cabin in Colorado someday for the entire summer. That is still on my to-do list, but I don’t know if I would want to be without my sweet husband for 3 whole months. He has kind of grown on me.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The lighting was too bright, so I created my own stained glass window.  Intermittent rain on a metal roof has been music to my ears. 

I have a little air conditioner and two fans creating the necessary chill factor to keep me comfortable and my favorite snacks and beverages to keep me fueled.  Of course hot tea is at the ready.

Nature has invaded my domicile twice now.  I’m hoping that is as bad as it gets.  Otherwise, the accommodations are quite satisfactory. 

BlackIce mock cover                                                                                    

This is the novel I have decided to focus on as my project.  It is an old one I wrote in 2008.  A colleague made the cover.  

I am on the editing and revising stage – about 1/4 of the way through.  Once done, I have to put together the front and back matter (dedication, copyright, about the author, etc.)  Then I plan to upload my first ever book for publishing.  It is actually coming together.

I’m thinking of different names for different genres – too confusing?

R. Marshall – YA

Mrs. Marshall – Children’s Books

Juanece – Romance

  • My thinking is that kids who love a chapter book about 3rd graders won’t accidentally stumble upon a wild adult romance novel.
  • Teens looking for age-appropriate adventure won’t get tricked into baby stuff.
  • It could possibly keep my different writing age groups separate and safe.  
  • Just something I’ve been mulling over for a while now.